


the most beautiful thing

by lovingryuu



Category: Dr. STONE (Anime), Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M, Mutual Pining, Romance, Stargazing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:41:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26493544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovingryuu/pseuds/lovingryuu
Summary: “Lights filled modern Japan—the modern world,” Senku says, and then, in a much softer voice. “It was as if the night didn’t exist anymore. It drowned out the stars,” Senku spares Chrome a glance, and Chrome notices but chooses to keep his gaze on the stars; Senku turns to the sky once more, “and all the smoke and dirt only made it more difficult to see.”They fall into another lapse of silence, and Chrome uses it to let the information fully sink in. Finally, in a soft voice, he asks: “Do you miss it?”
Relationships: Chrome/Ishigami Senkuu
Comments: 7
Kudos: 83





	the most beautiful thing

Chrome finds himself stirring awake in the middle of the night, his eyes fluttering open, straining to see past the darkness coating the room. He stares up at the ceiling, not quite seeing, his vision blurring in and out of focus. He considers falling back to sleep, closing his eyes shut once more and letting the croak of the crickets and the steady rush of air in and out of his lungs lull him back to sleep.

Until he hears a soft hum, quiet and unsure, mingling carefully with the lullaby of nature in the dead of the night. Chrome hears the uncertainty in the sound, the tinge of awkwardness lacing with the vibrations carrying over the air. Chrome opens his eyes again, looks to his side and finds the sheets beside his empty and unmade. 

Chrome blinks up at the ceiling, lets the melody soak in his ears, committing the noise to mind. The humming pauses abruptly, and the silence stretches over a few long seconds audibly. Chrome cranes his neck and finds him there, finds Senku by the entrance to the hut, slouched and relaxed, looking up at the sky in tranquil silence. 

The humming starts again, soft and quiet, until it trails off once more into silence. Chrome watches Senku heave in a deep breath, holding it for a second, until he lets it out in a deep sigh, his shoulders sagging with the motion. 

Chrome sits up then, and he doesn’t miss the way Senku’s shoulders stiffen at the sound of rustling sheets. But Senku doesn’t turn, and at that moment, Chrome chooses to allow himself the pleasure of simply staring at the back of Senku’s head. His hair is messier than usual, bits of hair sticking out here and there, and Chrome can’t help the upward tugs of a smile on his lips. 

Not even bothering to resist the smile, Chrome finally stands up and pads softly towards Senku’s direction. Senku only turns to him when he’s close enough, and Chrome meets his gaze when he sits beside Senku by the entrance. “Can’t sleep?” He asks, if only to fill the silence and to coax Senku’s voice into speaking once more.

Senku looks back up at the sky and lets out another soft sigh. “No,” he replies and Chrome waits patiently for his next words, but it doesn’t come. 

Another silence falls on them, and it’s not so bad, Chrome thinks, as he chooses instead to listen to their synced breaths above the rustling of the leaves and the croaks of unseen crickets. It’s not so bad, he repeats to himself as he soaks in the comfortable silence, but he really wants to hear Senku’s voice again. And so, he asks: “Why do you look up at the sky so much?” Chrome turns to look up as well, finds it the same as every night. “I get that it’s beautiful, but it can’t be much different from before, right?”

An amused huff comes from beside him, and Chrome turns to see the beginnings of a soft smile on Senku’s lips. Chrome replays the sound in his head, committing it to mind and deciding then that it’s got to be one of his favorite sounds. “No, it’s pretty much the same,” Senku says only a little while later, “but it was much harder to see before.” 

Chrome tears his gaze away from Senku and looks back up at the large expanse of blue and black. “Why?” He asks, not quite understanding how civilization could possibly cover up the beauty of the twinkling lights littering the dark blue sky. _Did they build a roof to hide it?_ He wonders but chooses not to voice it out, chooses to let Senku explain—chooses to hear Senku’s voice instead.

“Lights filled modern Japan—the modern world,” Senku says, and then, in a much softer voice. “It was as if the night didn’t exist anymore. It drowned out the stars,” Senku spares Chrome a glance, and Chrome notices but chooses to keep his gaze on the stars; Senku turns to the sky once more, “and all the smoke and dirt only made it more difficult to see.”

“That’s a shame.” Chrome says, and looks down at his lap, at his legs gently swinging back and forth as it dangles over the edge of the entrance. They fall into another lapse of silence, and Chrome uses it to let the information fully sink in. He realizes then the misfortune that comes with modern civilization; realizes then that, of course, it’s not as utopic as he had imagined. Of course, he repeats as he shifts positions, choosing to lean his back against the frame of the entrance, a knee bent and resting on the surface as the other continues to dangle freely in the air. His body faces Senku, but Chrome tries to look at the night sky instead. “Do you miss it?” He says finally in a soft voice, breaking the silence between them once more. “The modern world, I mean.”

Senku hums in consideration, and Chrome notes the lack in melody this time. Chrome finally lets himself look at Senku, finds his lower lip jutting out ever so slightly. Chrome thinks of it as an almost-pout, thinks of Senku pouting, and thinks of how he can hide the smile threatening to form on his lips at the image in his mind. 

A look passes over Senku’s face, his gaze unfocused and distant as his eyebrows furrow a little closer into the middle. Chrome wonders what he’s thinking, what he’s remembering, but the trance Senku seemingly found himself in breaks then and he closes his eyes forcefully shut. And when Senku reopens his eyes, Chrome finds hints of resignation in its place. 

But Senku turns to him then, with an odd mix of a smile and a frown on his lips at the same time, as he brushes the notion off with a, “ _Nah_.” And then, a genuine smile this time. “We’re gonna build it up again anyway. What’s there to miss?”

Chrome frowns, only a little. “It’s okay to miss it, you know?” He says, as if obvious, but the look that paints Senku’s face then—eyes widened by a fraction, eyebrows raised a little higher, lips slightly parted; it’s subtle, but Chrome notices. Of course, Chrome notices—tells him otherwise. Chrome averts his gaze then, and looks back up at the sky, not knowing where else to look. “I trust you, and I trust the kingdom of science,” Chrome pauses, considers looking back at Senku, but decides against it, “but you don’t have to pretend.” 

_At least, not to me_ , Chrome wants to add but leaves it unsaid; but when he finally turns to look at Senku and finds his expression replaced with something much softer, he wonders if Senku heard it all the same.

Senku lets out another huff of amusement, but Chrome is looking at him this time to fully bask in the fond smile on his lips as he does so. “Yeah,” Senku says as he looks down at his lap, tucking his chin to his chest, as if to hide his growing smile. But Chrome is looking straight on, and he catches it, and he marvels at the sight. Senku looks up again but doesn’t rid his face of the smile as he adds, “but it’s not all that bad you know?” 

A silent second passes by, and Chrome doesn’t look away, cannot look away, as Senku turns to him once more, meeting his gaze with his smile still intact. “How else will I get to admire something as beautiful as this,” Senku says, with a pause, and Chrome wonders if Senku also finds himself unable to look away, “if not 3,700 years later?”

Chrome’s heart stutters in its beat, and he commits to memory the look on Senku’s face—the smile on his lips, the soft shine in his eyes, the dim moonlight painting his face with its silver glow—before tearing his gaze away, if only to save his thundering heart. “Yeah,” Chrome says instead, looking up again at the sky. “It is beautiful—the stars.”

Another amused huff, and Chrome tries not to dissect it, not to analyze it. “Yeah, it sure is.” And, under his breath, he faintly hears Senku mumble to himself, “the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

**Author's Note:**

> just wanted to say that senchrome soulmates. thank you for your time <3  
> senchrome stans let's be friends [@lemoniism](https://twitter.com/lemoniism) (twitter)


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